Append results or text to text file by using Powershell

Question

I have a collection of objects with properties: ProductName and PartName. The content of collection is output to a file first: ``` $colProducts | sort-object ProductName | ` Select-object ProductName PartName | ` Format-Table -autosize ProductName, PartName | ` Out-File myProducts.txt ``` So far so good. However, I have trouble to append a text message to the result file like this: ``` Add-Content myProducts.txt "`nParts in more than one Product`n" ``` I found that the appended text is not readable at the end. One thing I notice is that the output of the first collection to a file is in Unicode, and the second one code (add-content) is in ASCII if only to a new file. After this, I would like to continue to add the following information the same result file: ``` $colProducts | Group-object PartName | sort-object PartName | ` Where-Object {$_.Count -gt 1 } | ` Select-object ProductName PartName | ` Format-Table -autosize ProductName, PartName | ` Out-File myProducts.txt ``` The above co…

Accepted Answer

I would first try:

```
$colProducts | Group-object PartName | sort-object PartName | `
  Where-Object {$_.Count -gt 1 } | `
  Select-object ProductName PartName | `
  Format-Table -autosize ProductName, PartName | `
  Out-File -Append myProducts.txt
```

And then look at this to get a feel for what you were encountering.

Essentially, `Out-File` (and `Out-File -Append`) gives you Unicode by default and `Add-Content` gives ASCII by default. My advice would be stick to the same command and you shouldn't have a problem.

And, of course, `help Out-File -Detailed`! Always check out the powershell examples because they help a great deal, not just to figure out their common usage, but to grok them as well.

Append results or text to text file by using Powershell

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